2001 BMW 3 Series Smells like radiator!

BJC

Just bought a very tidy 3 series. The coolant light came on yesterday and so I topped it up about a litre, it then came back on today and there is a slight fishy smell in the cockpit..

I assume I'm fecked.

So how much am I in the hole guys to get this sucker of a radiator replaced?

Any advice much appreciated.

delly

Have you actually looked to see where the leak is? The expansion tanks are known to be one of the weakest part in the cooling system and my own has split previously.

madchild

As above it will more than likely be the expansion tank fill it and leave it sit for a while with somethin under it to find the leak or have a feel around the tank itself.

BJC

I'll do that in the morning; give it a proper inspection. But would there be a fishy smell if it was just the expansion tank?

delly

I don't recall a bad smell myself, but then again I was watching my tank make a very slight loss for a while before it eventually went, so never actually lost a lot of coolant on the day it decided to split. I would assume that the water would not have gone long out of the radiator if it was the expansion tank, so you would probably still get that metallic smell.

You'll probably find very little to look at once she is cold, so I'd fill up the coolant and get it up to temperature. After about ten minutes pop the bonnet and you'll see the offending drips straight away as they will be steaming as they hit the bottom tray. Once the engine is cold again, the split closes up and leaves you scratching your head.

Just as a reference, I got my expansion tank replaced and fitted for €140. It's not the most complex of DIY jobs, but there are things I am good with the car and others like this that I leave to the specialists.

jetfiremuck

Coolant smell inside indicates heater ore leak. Pullnback carpet near gearbox area under dash and checkbif carpet underpadding is wet.ntye carpet may be dry but the underpad could be soppingvwet

sogood

jetfiremuck wrote: »

Coolant smell inside indicates heater ore leak. Pullnback carpet near gearbox area under dash and checkbif carpet underpadding is wet.ntye carpet may be dry but the underpad could be soppingvwet

+1. I would go with the heater matrix, buried somewhere beneath the dash area. Definitely pull back carpets and check for wet spots around the centre console/transmission tunnel area.

bobin fudge

happened to my bmw, the fishy smell was pretty bad, was the heating matrix. Whilst I remember also had "steam" coming through via the glove box and other vents on the dash board

mickdw

I wouldnt immediately assume that just because the coolant smell can be got in the car that it is a leak withing the cabin. If coolant was dropping onto a hot surface in the engine bay, you would get the smell inside the car too.

BJC

Thanks for all the replies folks. I finally got a chance to give it a good inspection this morning and it turns out it's the heater hose connection at the back of the cylinder.

Those plastic hoses give out quite frequently afaik.

The damage is exponentially increasing too. I lose about a litre of coolant in a 30 minute drive. Good news is it's a 12 euro part from Joe Duffy and a 20 minute job to change it.